First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 13th

Eleanor Farjeon, Quote

“Every man's life (and ... every woman's life), awaits the hour of blossoming that makes it immortal ... love is a divinity above all accidents, and guards his own with extraordinary obstinacy.”

~ Eleanor Farjeon

Wikiquote (Eleanor Farjeon (February 13, 1881 – June 5, 1965) was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire.)

This Day in History

February 13th, 1322

Ely Cathedral (The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely) is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon

The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th-13th.

Wikipedia  Photo: Ely Cathedral (The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely) is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon.

February 13th, 1542

Henry VIII; Coat of Arms and Seal of Henry VIII of England; Catherine of Aragon as a young widow, by court painter Michael Sittow, 1502; Anne Boleyn, Henry's second queen; a later copy of an original painted 1534; Jane Seymour<, Henry's third wife; Anne of Cleves, Henry's forth wife by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; Catherine Howard<, Henry's fifth wife, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540; Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth and last wife

Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.

Wikipedia  Painting: Henry VIII Coat of Arms and Seal of Henry VIII of England; Catherine of Aragon as a young widow, by court painter Michael Sittow, 1502; Anne Boleyn, Henry's second queen; a later copy of an original painted 1534; Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife; Anne of Cleves, Henry's forth wife by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540; Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth and last wife.

February 13th, 1572

Elizabeth's reign (1558 -1603) coincided with the beginning of the British Empire, known as the Golden Age Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England

Elizabethan era (1558–1603):
1572 - Elizabeth I of England issues a proclamation which revokes all commissions on account of the frauds which they had fostered

Wikipedia  Painting: Elizabeth I of England's reign (1558 -1603) coincided with the beginning of the British Empire, known as the Golden Age.
Elizabeth I in her coronation robes, patterned with Tudor roses and trimmed with ermine; The Lady Elizabeth in about 1546; Elizabeth playing the virginals; Elizabeth and Philip, King of Spain, relations deteriorated ending in the defeat of the Spanish Armada; A wedding feast, 1569; Ivan the Terrible shows his treasures to Elizabeth's ambassador, by Alexander Litovchenko, 1875; Elizabeth ushers in Peace and Plenty. Detail from The Family of Henry VIII: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession, 1572, attributed to Lucas de Heere.

February 13th, 1633

Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers Galileo Galilei: A 19th-century depiction of Galileo before the Holy Office, by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury

Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.

Wikipedia  Painting: Fresco by Giuseppe Bertini depicting Galileo showing the Doge of Venice how to use the telescope
Image: Montage of Jupiter's four Galilean moons, in a composite image comparing their sizes and the size of Jupiter. (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto);
Painting: A 19th-century depiction of Galileo before the Holy Office, by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury

February 13th, 1668

Western Europe Satellite, credit NASA Lisbon, Portugal - Monument to the Portuguese maritime discoveries

Spain recognizes Portugal as an independent nation.

Wikipedia  Image: Western Europe Satellite, credit NASA. ● Lisbon, Portugal - Monument to the Portuguese maritime discoveries.

February 13th, 1689

Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later jointly reign as William and Mary

King William III and Queen Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers of England.

Wikipedia  Painting: Detail of William and Mary from the ceiling of the Painted Hall; Anthony van Dyck painting of Mary Stuart and William of Orange. (He was 14 and she was 10); The Old Royal Naval College, on the south bank of the river Thames in Greenwich, London viewed from the north side. The Queen's House in the middle of the picture. The Royal Observatory visible in the background.

February 13th, 1867

Brussels: Carpet flower, Great Market, Brussels, Belgium, credit Batistini Gaston, Flickr

Work begins on the covering of the Zenne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.

Wikipedia  Photo: Brussels; Carpet flower, Great Market, Brussels, Belgium, credit Batistini Gaston, Flickr.

February 13th, 1880

Thomas Edison - Edison effect (Thermionic emission is the heat-induced flow of charge carriers from a surface or over a potential-energy barrier)

Thomas Edison observes the Edison effect.

Wikipedia.org  Photo: Thomas Edison - Edison effect (Thermionic emission is the heat-induced flow of charge carriers from a surface or over a potential-energy barrier.), credit AllPosters, Getty Images.

February 13th, 1931

Map Satellite India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet AR, Bangladesh

New Delhi becomes the capital of India.

Wikipedia  Image: Map Satellite India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet AR, Bangladesh.

February 13th, 1935

Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) (nicknamed 'Slim', 'Lucky Lindy' and 'The Lone Eagle') was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist (Lindbergh emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo non-stop flight on May 20–21, 1927, from New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles (5,800 km), in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis) Bruno Hauptmann is arrested for the kidnap and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Wikipedia  Photo: Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) (nicknamed 'Slim', 'Lucky Lindy' and 'The Lone Eagle') was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist. (Lindbergh emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo non-stop flight on May 20–21, 1927, from New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles (5,800 km), in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis.)
Bruno Hauptmann (Murder, Death by electrocution) / Charles Lindbergh Jr.

February 13th, 1945

World War II: Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Leyte Gulf; The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island World War II: German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944) World War II: Eastern Front (World War II); was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945

World War II:
1945 - Siege of Budapest; concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.
1945 - Bombing of Dresden; Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.

Wikipedia  Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945. USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.

Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.

February 13th, 1951

Korean War Collage

Korean War:
1951 - Battle of Chipyong-ni; which represented the "high-water mark" of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.

Wikipedia  Photo: Korean War Collage credit, The Big Picture, Boston Globe - (Associated Press; U.S. Department of Defense / SGT. F.C. Kerr; AP Photo; U.S. Department of Defense / TSGT. Charles B. Tyler; U.S. Department of Defense / TSGT. Charles B. Tyler; U.S. Department of Defense / TSGT. Robert H. Mosier; AP Photo / Max Desfor; U.S. Department of Defense / CPL. P. McDonald; AP Photo / Max Desfor; AP Photo/George Sweers; U.S. Navy / Maj. R.V. Spencer, UAF; AP Photo / Max Desfor).

February 13th, 1955

Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time by the Huntington Library

Israel obtains 4 of the 7 Dead Sea Scrolls.

Wikipedia  Photo: Qumran cave 4, in which ninety percent of the scrolls were found / Dead Sea Scrolls

February 13th, 1960

Cold War: often dated from 1947–1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between the powers of the Western world, led by the United States and its NATO allies, and the communist world, led by the Soviet Union, its satellite states and allies Cold War: in Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage

Cold War:
1960 - With the success of a nuclear test codenamed "Gerboise Bleue", France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.

Wikipedia  Photo: Lockheed C-130 Hercules; RAF Menwith Hill, a large site in the United Kingdom, part of ECHELON and the UKUSA Agreement; New Zealand nuclear test, British nuclear tests near the Malden and Christmas Islands in the mid-Pacific in 1957 and 1958; Nevada nuclear tests, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Federal Facilities.
U2, Lockheed TR-1 in flight.

February 13th, 1970

Studio album by Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath, arguably the very first heavy metal album, is released.

Wikipedia  Painting: Studio album by Black Sabbath

February 13th, 1990

Cold War: often dated from 1947–1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between the powers of the Western world, led by the United States and its NATO allies, and the communist world, led by the Soviet Union, its satellite states and allies.

Cold War - German reunification:
1990 - An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany

Wikipedia  The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin

February 13th, 1991

Iraq War: The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a UN-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait

Iraq War:
1991 - Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.

Wikipedia  Photo: USAF F-15Es, F-16s, and a USAF F-15 flying over burning Kuwaiti oil wells; Iraqi Army T-72 main battle tanks. The T-72 tank was a common Iraqi battle tank used in the Gulf War; F-15Es parked during Operation Desert Shield; The oil fires caused were a result of the scorched earth policy of Iraqi military forces retreating from Kuwait; Aerial view of destroyed Iraqi T-72 tank, BMP-1 and Type 63 armored personnel carriers and trucks on Highway 8 in March 1991.

February 13th, 2001

Global Earthquake epicenters

Earthquake:
2001 - El Salvador Earthquake (2001); killing at least 400.

Wikipedia  Image: Preliminary Determination of Epicenters / Aleppo Syria; Anchorage, Alaska - March 28, 1964 Prince William Sound USA earthquake and tsunami; 8.9 Mega Earthquake Strikes Japan; Tsunami Swirls Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture March 12 2011. credit NOAA / NGDC, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, USGS, National Geographics.

February 13th, 2004

The galaxy Messier 101 (M101, also known as NGC 5457 and also nicknamed the Pinwheel Galaxy) lies in the northern circumpolar constellation, Ursa Major (The Great Bear), at a distance of 25 million light-years from Earth

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamondwhite dwarf star BPM 37093 . Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

Wikipedia  Photo: he galaxy Messier 101 (M101, also known as NGC 5457 and also nicknamed the Pinwheel Galaxy) lies in the northern circumpolar constellation, Ursa Major (The Great Bear), at a distance of 25 million light-years from Earth. (This is one of the largest and most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy that has been released from Hubble)

February 13th, 2012

The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the first launch of the European Vega rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the first launch of the European Vega rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Wikipedia  Image: On 13 February 2012, the first Vega lifted off on its maiden flight from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG (Phys.org)